DENGUE HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER - A PATHOLOGICAL STUDY

The necropsy findings in 12 cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever are described. Interstitial pneumonitis was present in all 12, and protein-rich serous effusions were found in 9. In most patients deposits of fibrin could be demonstrated within blood vessel walls in the spleen, and less frequently in pancreas and lung. Although the pathogenesis of this fibrin deposition is unknown, it is believed to be a manifestation of increased vascular permeability. Paracentral areas of zonal necrosis were found in the liver in 4 cases; Councilman-like bodies were present in these 4, and intranuclear inclusion bodies were observed in 2 of them. © 1968 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.